Columbus Mifflin High student arrested for bringing a loaded gun, magazine to school

Columbus police officers have arrested a Mifflin High School student for bringing a stolen handgun and dozens of rounds of ammunition to school.

On a routine safety walk through the Northeast Side high school Friday morning, a school administrator heard about a student that might be in possession of a gun, said Columbus City Schools spokeswoman Jacqueline Bryant.

The school's principal called Columbus police and the building went into lockdown. According to a police report, officers detained the suspect, a 17-year-old male student, as he was trying to leave the school grounds.

Officers and the school’s assistant principal located a Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol inside a small bag lying on the bleachers in the school’s gym. One live round of ammunition was chambered in the gun.

A standard gun magazine loaded with 15 live rounds of ammunition and one extended magazine loaded with 27 live rounds of ammunition were also found with the gun.

Columbus police said the handgun had been reported stolen from a vehicle on April 27.

Witness interviews and school security video footage showed that the 17-year-old student initially carried the bag with the gun into the gym and handed it to another student, whom he asked to hide it.

The 17-year-old student was charged with carrying concealed weapons, receiving stolen property and conveying a firearm into a school safety zone.

Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at shendrix@dispatch.com. Follow her on Twitter at @sheridan120.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mifflin High School student arrested for bringing a gun to school